Channel 4 is to test the boundaries of racial and cultural harmony in the UK with a new series that involves people from Bradford sitting a citizenship test and then living together in a house, before being paired up to swap lives.

More than 100 people from different areas of the Yorkshire city were asked to take a citizenship test for the two-part documentary, Make Bradford British. The vast majority, more than 90%, failed the test.

Questions in the multiple choice British citizenship test include "What percentage of the British population is under the age of 19?" and "When were women given the right to vote?".

The show draws on elements of two of Channel 4's former hit shows Big Brother and Wife Swap for what the broadcaster calls a "radical social experiment".

Make Bradford British is designed to see what being British means and "if people of different racial, religious and cultural backgrounds can live happily together, or is it better to live apart".

Eight Bradfordians were then asked to live in a house together to "see what happens when you bring people who usually live segregated lives together for the first time," according to Channel 4.

The set up is likely to spark memories of Big Brother's infamous race row in 2007 involving Shilpa Shetty and Jade Goody, which set the long-running reality show on its way to eviction from Channel 4.

However, after the eight Make Bradford British participants have lived together they are then paired up and sent to live each other's lives, which Channel 4 says leads to "life-changing encounters, the results of which are eye-opening and revealing".

Executive producer Richard McKerrow of Love Productions said: "Our ambition is to uncover a common notion of what it means to be British in the 21st century. And we felt that Bradford was an interesting and ideal place to explore this idea. Is there a core set of values or a shared knowledge that underpins the British identity?"

The Channel 4 chief creative officer, Jay Hunt, said: "In a speech earlier this year, David Cameron launched an attack on state multiculturalism saying it has allowed the weakening of our collective identity. This is exactly the area that documentaries should be probing – asking difficult and challenging questions through an engaging and interesting format."

Make Bradford British will be aired in January and was commissioned by the Channel 4 head of documentaries, Hamish Mykura.

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